Bradley Dawson, 38, a white man from Pleasant Hills in the Pittsburgh area, was found dead on the morning of September 1, 2025, inside the Nantucket Drive home he shared with his father. First responders were dispatched around 7:21 a.m. after reports of gunfire; when no one answered at the door, a regional crisis response team entered just after 9 a.m. and discovered Bradley Dawson, 38, and his father, Edgar Dawson, 72, each with a single gunshot wound.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner later confirmed their identities, and authorities noted there was no ongoing danger to the public. Bradley Dawson, 38, had deep roots in the area, with an obituary listing his full name as Bradley Alex Dawson and noting his birth in Pittsburgh.
Investigators concluded the violence unfolded inside the family's residence early that morning. According to county police, Edgar Dawson shot Bradley Dawson, 38, and then turned the gun on himself. The scene drew officers, armored vehicles, and neighbors who woke to the sound of emergency sirens on the quiet Pleasant Hills block. By afternoon, detectives with the Allegheny County Police homicide unit had processed the house and relayed that everyone involved had been identified. Bradley Dawson, 38, was pronounced dead at the home; his death was one of several Labor Day incidents that punctuated a late-summer holiday otherwise defined by still neighborhoods and closed schools.
No arrests followed, and authorities named no outside suspects. The case was treated as a murder-suicide, with Edgar Dawson identified as the sole person responsible for the killing of Bradley Dawson, 38, before taking his own life. Local outlets emphasized the lack of threat beyond the home and the swift transition of the inquiry to county detectives and the medical examiner. Memorial pages and funeral notices for Bradley Dawson, 38, quickly appeared online, marking a life cut short and a family left to reconcile a loss compounded by the manner of death.
